Vijay Hazare Trophy: Tamil Nadu suffer setback in form of Vijay Shankar's injury

Tamil Nadu captain and India all-rounder Vijay Shankar has suffered an injury which could potentially rule him out for several games. Shankar picked up the injury ahead of Tamil Nadu’s third game of the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy against Rajasthan, which is scheduled to be played on Sunday at TI Cycles. Paceman K Vignesh will also have to give the match a miss with an injured thigh.

Tamil Nadu’s selectors are uncertain of the extent of Vijay Shankar’s injury, and have promptly roped in V Yomahesh and J Kousik into the squad. With Vijay Shankar potentially out of Sunday’s game, B Indrajith will assume captaincy duties till such a time when Shankar is fit to play once again. Meanwhile, wicketkeeper-batsman N Jagadeesan has been named vice-captain of the side.

A split webbing for Shankar

Vijay Shankar injured the webbing on his right thumb while fielding against Gujarat on Thursday. He did feature in the game against Services on the following day with a bandaged hand, but he was clearly in discomfort, especially while batting.

However, Shankar felt he may be able to take part in Sunday’s game saying, “I still have a 50-50 chance of playing on Sunday against Rajasthan. I have to wait and see how I am and how I feel on the morning of the game.”

The all-rounder is still unclear as to the extent of the injury and how long he’d take to recover. “I don’t know myself. I will have to wait and see how it heals,” the 27-year-old said.

Tamil Nadu didn’t get off to a winning start in the Vijay Hazare Trophy as they suffered a 4-wicket defeat against Gujarat. Nevertheless, they were quick to bounce back against Services, registering an 83-run victory on Friday.

Vijay Shankar made his international debut in March this year against Sri Lanka. He has featured in 5 T20Is since, and has bagged a total of 3 wickets.

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